


Knuckle Thrash

by Tenebrais



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25670557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenebrais/pseuds/Tenebrais
Summary: Two years ago, Harley got the dream. She was as shocked as anyone - everyone called her a problem child, how could she deserve it?Future's Promise could be her chance to turn her life around.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Knuckle Thrash

It was her first night out with her new powers. Harley didn't have a plan, or really any idea what she was doing. But she had to start somewhere, right?  
She stood outside her house as the barrier went up. She'd never been out this late before. The city looked very different from this side. Beautiful, but dangerous. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, but nothing was around yet. She had never fought monsters before, but she knew this feeling. She swam in it. Watching, waiting, for something to come at her. Something would be there soon. Someone always was. She started to wander.

For maybe half an hour she wandered the ocean-blue streets. Sounds started to pick up in the distance – other girls, maybe teams, fighting against the monsters that had broken through the great barrier. Nothing too close yet. Was anyone patrolling around here? She didn't feel ready to meet another person out here yet.  
Her train of thought was interrupted by a sound from down the next street. It sounded like laughter. Carefully, Harley peeked around the corner. It was definitely a monster of some sort. A hunched over creature, its back covered in lumps – boils, maybe? Each of which had a pair of eyes that immediately stared at her. And each of them _laughed_ at her.  
She was already charging it before she'd even processed it. Her fists were thinking faster than her head.

Again.

* * * * *

She read the acceptance letter once again. It had been a week now, and she still couldn't quite believe that she would be going to Future's Promise, today. She was dressed in her new uniform, in time for the 10:30 tram to school. She just had to check just to make sure she hadn't misread it the last twelve times. This would really be her life now.

Her dad was waiting to see her off. At the sight of her in her uniform he gave her a bright smile and a tight hug. “I'm so proud of you!” he said. But his eyes said, _now don't screw this up_. She had already had to move schools more times than she cared to count. Her parents had even moved home to get her away from trouble. It had always followed her. 

Growing up, she was always big for her age. Even back in pre-school, some of the other kids teased her, saying she must have been held back for being a big dumb idiot. Until she found she could push them around. The teasing stopped. But the trouble started. She got write-ups, she got detentions, every time she fought back against someone it meant trouble for her. All through primary school - primary _schools_ \- teachers never gave her an inch, and no one wanted to be friends with what was clearly a dangerous bully. Not unless they could use her.  
Future's Promise would be her last chance to get away from all that, and she knew it. If she could make it here, maybe there was still hope for her.

And her first day... passed. Nothing went horribly wrong. No one came to bother her. Getting settled in was smooth – with the way you join this school, everyone was used to people transferring in all through the year, so she didn't stick out as much as she was used to. That suited her just fine. No one crowded around her desk trying to find out where she came from or why she had to leave. It was fine. Just fine.

Lunch went fine too. She'd been looking forward to seeing the cafeteria – everyone knew the girls here ate like queens. And they did. Real meat and fresh vegetables; everything seasoned with herbs she didn't even know the name of (although, when you got right down to it, she didn't think she could name any). She piled her tray as high as she could with delicious food and jealously guarded it over to an empty table at the back of the hall. Slowly, she ate, always keeping an eye on the people around her. Were those girls talking about her? What about them, what were they thinking? She noticed a few curious looks her way, but a dark glare scared them off. It was enough. No one bothered her. And it was fine.

* * * * *

It was her fifth night out as a magical girl. She had a patrol route planned out this time. A notice board near the school's entrance showed a map of the local neighbourhoods, marked with who patrolled where. She'd found an area near her home that wasn't covered well, and figured out which streets to take. She proceeded with purpose now, her knuckle dusters ready, itching for a fight. _Come on_ , she thought to the candy-cane-coloured streets. _Show yourselves. Make my day._

On her next street she saw them, a small cluster of spider monsters scrabbling at the barrier. Harley grinned to herself, and charged. This was what she lived for.

* * * * *

It felt weird, going to school on a Saturday. She didn't mind, exactly. She never had anywhere to be on weekends – she had never been a social butterfly. But the short school day had to be made up somewhere, she guessed.  
Lunch time saw her at what she now started to think of as _her_ table. She didn't pile up her tray as high as she had when she first started – the food wasn't going anywhere. But still her eyes scanned the room around her, waiting for trouble. Until, somehow out of nowhere, someone was right in front of her.

“Hey, is this seat taken?” The girl said.  
Harley looked at her warily, trying to read her expression. She'd never been good at it, though, and the girl's narrow eyes betrayed nothing. She just shrugged, and the girl sat down.  
The hair on the back of her neck pricked up. This was trouble, she could feel it. She thought she'd settled into a decent routine here, but maybe she'd hoped for too much. She tried to focus on her food, but she couldn't stop herself keeping an eye on the girl.  
For her part, the other girl seemed to innocently eat her meal. She had stark white hair and dark skin. Her eyes barely parted. Was she looking at her? Waiting for her to do something? Trying to learn something? What was this girl's interest in her?  
Two voices battled in Harley's head. _Keep your cool_ , one said. _I can't mess this up. Don't rise to it. Don't acknowledge her. Leave everyone alone and don't get in trouble._ The other one retorted – _don't let her get one over on you. Nip this in the bud, stop whatever she's planning before it can get you in trouble._ That girl had to mean something by sitting here, right? There's plenty of other places in the cafeteria. But _what_?

The tension got too much. She had to do _something_.  
“Okay, what's your angle?” Harley asked.  
The girl looked up, her mouth full of spaghetti. “Hm?”  
“Why are you over here?” Harley asked.  
The girl swallowed. “I wanted to sit down,” she said.  
“With me?” Harley tried her glare, but the girl didn't seem to notice.  
“Sure, why not? You seem alright. The name's Bud,” she said, and offered a handshake.  
Harley looked at the outstretched hand until she put it down again.  
“It's fine if you're new here,” Bud said. “We all were once. Had to make new friends.”  
“I don't get on well with friends,” Harley murmured.  
“First time for everything!” Bud grinned.

Was she _teasing_ her? Was that what this was? Despite all the talk Harley hadn't learned anything. She just went back to her food and tried to ignore this Bud girl. _Don't let her get to you_ , she thought to herself. _She'll get bored eventually if you just... don't respond_.

* * * * *

Harley had come to look forward to night patrols. Once the barrier went up, things made sense. There was her, and there were monsters, and she had to destroy the monsters. None of them would pretend to be her friend, no one was going to turn against her for fending them off. And the fighting was good, too. Taking these things down was a challenge, she had to work for it, but it was rewarding work. It felt _right_. She marched with purpose along her route now, daring every side-street and alley along the way to give her a fight. She had no idea eyes were following her from the shadows.

It was past midnight when she found her first serious fight. A group – monsters that looked a little like a pack of dogs with dark, shaggy fur. Seven of them. She would have to be careful to make sure they didn't surround her. Stay at the edge of the group, try to deliver a quick, strong blow to destroy them each quickly rather than wear them down-  
As usual, her body was acting before her brain had finished a strategy. She landed a solid blow on the first hound, which collapsed into a fuzzy smear. She swung around at the next, but it ducked out of the way. She managed to keep her momentum going enough to circle around it before bringing up the other fist and knocking it in the side, sending it flying. _Two down_ , she thought, but in her haste she had let the rest of them start to form an arc around her. No good! She picked one of the hounds on the end and sprung at it, which leapt at her in turn – she managed to catch it under its belly, sending a jolt of power to kill it, but not before it had managed to claw a gash into her forehead.

Ignoring the pain, she spun around to face the four remaining monsters. Three of them were flanking the fourth, which snarled at her. She stepped forward to attack, when her ankle stopped with a sharp pain and sent her hurling into the pavement.

_Eight_. There had been eight monsters, and the one she hadn't seen had grabbed her. With her free leg she kicked at it, knocking it off her, but now the other hound had caught up and stood on her chest. It snarled in her face. She raised her arms, trying to protect her neck from its teeth.

The hound vanished in a flash of light.

“Heads up!” a girl shouted from the street.

Harley looked over, her vision obscured by blood. A girl in a white costume, with two... somethings... floating by her head. She blinked her eyes clear. Was that _Bud_?

This was no time for distraction. The monster that had got her leg was bearing down at her from behind. As soon as it came near her she grabbed its forelegs, swinging it forward toward the rest of its pack, and used the momentum to pull herself to her feet. Barely. Her ankle couldn't hold her very well now. She raised her fists.  
Bud had run up to her side. “You look like you need a hand,” she said casually.  
“I've got this,” Harley grumbled.  
“You clearly haven't got this,” Bud retorted.  
Before Harley could argue further the hounds charged. One came straight at her, and ate fist immediately. Another had charged at Bud, who shot a beam of light into its path, reducing it to dust. The other two circled around.

Harley struggled to keep her eye on both. Bud was looking her way, not seeing that one of them was coming at her from behind. Faster than she could think, she leapt at it – from her bad leg, she was going to regret that – and pinned it to the ground in a graceless belly-flop. The monster at her mercy, she brought her fist down, and looked up to see Bud fry the last one.

Harley scanned the street to find any more, but it looked like it was over. As the adrenaline wore off, she really started to feel the pain, and almost collapsed as her leg stopped trying to hold her up. Bud caught her.

“Don't touch me,” Harley murmured, but she didn't resist as Bud shuffled under her arm to support her.  
“You're hurt,” Bud said matter-of-factly. “Let's get off the streets. I'll watch your back.”

They limped the half-mile to the safety centre in silence. Harley didn't have the strength to push Bud away in this state, and she didn't know what she could say if she didn't. For her part, Bud just wasn't saying anything, inscrutable as ever. Harley was a little glad for that.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. The safety centre was a small local clinic – the nurse there cleaned her wounds, and fortunately, a magical girl with healing powers was in this evening. She would be able to walk home in a few hours once the magic had worked its course.

Bud stayed with her until the barrier went down. Harley was lying on a couch in the waiting room, exhausted and fending off sleep. Blearily she looked up at her.  
“Why...?” she managed to utter.  
Bud gave her a shrug. “Gotta look out for each other, you know?”  
Harley slowly shook her head. “Don't get involved with me. Just... go home. Better that way...”

She slept through until sunrise. Bud was long gone, and she was cleared to walk home.

* * * * *

Harley struggled through the next day at school. The last night's fight had taken a lot out of her and she was still tired. She couldn't be as alert around others as she was used to, and it put her on edge.

When lunch came around, Bud was sitting at her usual table before she got there. Casually she looked around to see if there was an empty table anywhere. There was one, but it was right in the middle of the cafeteria – that wouldn't do. Maybe outside? But it was raining today.  
Part of her told her she was being silly. She knew she was looking for an excuse to avoid talking to the girl. She would have to just suck it up.

Carefully, Harley tried to take the most non-committal seat she could. Not the one straight across from her, and certainly not next to her. Satisfied with her choice, she carefully put down her tray, trying to somehow be invisible. Which didn't work, of course. Bud nodded at her, but didn't look up.  
They ate in silence for a moment.  
_Is Bud playing some game here?_ Harley thought to herself  
_But she was here first_ , she replied.  
_But she knows this is where I sit_ , she thought.  
She again tried to consider what Bud was trying to do. But she was tired. She could barely read Bud in the first place, let alone theorise what schemes she might be playing.  
_Why isn't she saying anything?_ She pondered. _Is she waiting for me to make the first move?_  
_She can keep on waiting_ , she thought.  
_But she helped me out_ , came a part of her that rarely spoke up. 

Harley looked over at Bud and took in a deep breath.  
“Thanks,” she said slowly. “For last night.”  
Bud smiled at her, with genuine warmth.  
“You too, buddy!”  
“I'm not your buddy,” Harley sighed reproachfully. “And what are you thanking me for?”  
“You saved my butt from one of those dog things, remember?”  
Harley quickly replayed the battle in her head. Oh, right, she had, hadn't she? She hadn't even thought about it. Why did she throw herself at it like that? She was lucky she hadn't got more hurt.  
“I guess... we've gotta look out for each other, huh,” she said, more to herself than anything.  
Bud chuckled. “Hey, you never told me your name.”  
Harley eyed her warily, but she couldn't just not answer. “It's Harley.”  
“You're a good person, Harley.” Bud said.  
“No I'm not,” Harley argued automatically. “You don't know me.”  
“I'm good at reading people,” Bud argued back.  
“Can't be that good if that's your read on me.”  
“Why do you keep trying to scare me off?”  
Harley sighed. “People around me get hurt. I hurt them. I don't want to hurt you so stop being around me.”  
Bud cocked her head to the side. “Do you really think that?”  
“I know it. It always happens eventually.”  
“Well I don't accept it,” Bud pouted. “I'll prove you're good. Come out on patrol with me tonight.”

* * * * *

She spent the whole evening after school debating with herself whether to take Bud up on her offer. Sure, she'd be safer with someone else around to watch each other's backs. But that would mean trusting her, and she'd learned that lesson all too well before. 

But there was still a spark of hope, even now. She might actually make a friend. Bud was clearly gratingly insistent on it. She might still just be trying to use her – plenty of kids in the past had made friendly with her just to have the big dumb muscle on their side. But these are _magical girls_. Would they need to throw around the big tough girl when everyone has lasers and fire? And besides, weren't magical girls supposed to be a better class of people in the first place? More heroic, and stuff? That's what everyone always said.

Eventually she decided to meet her. If everything was going to go wrong, then, well... at least it wasn't at school.

* * * * *

As much as she hated to admit it, they worked well together as a team. Bud was all business, just quietly watching Harley's back, who in turn made sure nothing got too close to Bud. They gelled together well, tactically, and Bud didn't spoil it by trying to push a friendship.

By the time the barrier went down, she had to concede that she enjoyed it. Fighting with someone was a lot different to trying to talk to them. And she didn't have to hold herself back from punching faces, because that was what she was there for. Watching each other's backs, neither of them had a scratch.

But now it was over, and her mind went back into overdrive.  
“So why?” She asked.  
“Huh?” Said Bud.  
“Why invite me out here? Why _me_? You don't even know me.”  
“I told you, right? We gotta look out for each other.”  
“That's not why you came and sat with me the other day, though.”  
“Yeah, I guess.” Bud sighed. “Fine. I used to roll with this other girl Jess, but then she got into this whole _thematic team_ thing with some other girls, and now she's out with them all the time... I need a new friend, and I think you're pretty cool.”  
“You think I'm cool?” Harley said, raising an eyebrow.  
“Sure!” Bud chirped. “Loner, dark past, trying to make the best of her new life. I'm right, aren't I?”  
Harley sighed. “I guess so. That doesn't make me a good friend though. It makes me someone dealing with my own shit that you should butt out of.”  
“ _Maybe_ you just need a good friend to help you deal with your shit,” Bud said, leaning in close.  
“And _maybe_ you should _butt out_ before you get _hurt!_ ” Harley punctuated with a jab. A much harder jab than she wanted, pushing Bud a few steps away, taking them both by surprise.  
Shit.

_Shit._

Panic washed over her. It was happening all over again. She'd hurt her. Now she had an enemy. This always happens! This was exactly what she was trying to warn her about! Why did she even come out here? She should have stayed alone. It was safer that way. Why did she have to-

Bud laughed playfully, and pushed Harley back.  
“Nah, you're not gonna hurt me,” she said. “I'm tougher than I look.”  
Harley was stunned. “You're not mad?”  
“I've had worse,” Bud said. “And I've had worse friends. I saw that. You didn't mean it. You didn't want to hurt me.”  
“Well, sure, but I still hit you.”  
“Nah, you just pushed me bit. You didn't hit me. You're trying your best, right?”  
“But I'm not...”  
“You're not good at it yet? You'll get the hang of it. I told you, you're a good person.”  
Harley sighed, and smiled at her. “Thanks, Bud.”  
“Hey, I'm here for ya, pal” Bud patted her on the back.

They started walking together. And, for the first time in what might have been years, Harley was actually comfortable walking with someone. She honestly liked Bud. It turned out what she was planning was just... making a friend.  
Maybe she owed it to her to at least try to be one.

“So,” Bud said. “You got an MG name?”  
“I filled in Knuckle Thrash on the form,” Harley admitted. “It's kind of dumb though, right?”  
“No way, that's awesome!” Bud said, her eyes wide. Well, wide for Bud. “Hey, we should be Team Thrash! Knuckle Thrash and Laser Thrash, it'd be _so cool!_ ”  
“You really want to team up with me?” Harley asked.  
“Sure! We did great together tonight, right?”  
Harley thought for a moment. That's a commitment, right? She should be careful. If it goes wrong-

She shook those thoughts away.

“Sure,” she said. “I'd like that.”


End file.
